Now that F*ck Fifty serum is out in the world, City Pages chatted with the two about how they met, why they decided to venture into the skincare world, and how many formulas it took until they landed on their final product.

City Pages: The serum isn’t just for people 50 and up, right? What skin types is it best for?

Susan Griak: The serum is for every age, race, gender, and skin type.... We want people to feel liberated by who they are, and not constantly feel like they have to change something about themselves in order to look the part. Why can’t a 20-year-old have gray hair? Why can’t a 50-year-old wear a tube top? I mean, really, wear what you want, be what you want, just so long as you take care of yourself and feel great.

CP: You two are friends. How did you meet?

Griak: I was walking [my youngest child] around Lake of the Isles with my dog and heard a loud, “Hey, lady with a baby! You have a baby, I have a baby! You have a doodle, I have a doodle! Let’s be friends!” And so our friendship began.

CP: How did the idea for F*ck Fifty come about?

Griak: Zelda is always brewing up something, whether it’s a delicious and healthy meal or a magical mixture for your body. She started giving friends face oil, and when she was interested in coming up with branding, she sent me a text late one night. Literally the first thing that popped into my head was “fuck fifty,” even though I worried it was maybe a little polarizing. It turns out lots of people loved it.

CP: How did you start formulating?

Curti: I was determined to research and make my own skin- and body-care product. I wanted the ingredients to come from nature. I also wanted to know what the beauties of all time used on their skin, so I researched Cleopatra, geishas, the Princess of Nerola, Italy—where the neroli scent we use in our serum is from.

CP: How many tries did it take until you got it right?

Griak: We tested the product on ourselves first, then on our spouses—I think my husband uses it more than I do—and then friends. No animals. How many tries? Too many to count. Way more than 50.

CP: Tell us about the blend you created for the Glow Infusion serum. How did you land on those ingredients?

Curti: As a former English teacher, I couldn’t help thinking of the line from Shakespeare’s Macbeth— “Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn, and cauldron bubble”—as we were brewing this infusion. We added some of the most powerful skin-enhancing plants into our “cauldron”: Reishi mushroom, for example, which is called “the mushroom of immortality.”

CP: Will you branch out into other products?

Curti: We are already concocting a couple of super great body products with the top CBD manufacturer in Colorado, because we just love the effects of it on the muscles and joints. At the end of the day we just want you to use our products and look in the mirror and say, “Fuck aging. I feel and look great!”